Her Feet
by RachelleWroteHere
Summary: All she wanted was to ditch her tail and scales for feet to dance with. Though bartering with the Nymph King isn't that easy. Gabriella, a young mermaid of Atlantis comes across a deal that is to great for her to pass up and she'll realize it's worth it.
1. Chapter 1

**Her Feet! **

**I'm know I'm posting this story earlier than I was supposed to but it kept nagging me! So instead, on Sept. 10th I'll be uploading another new story, _Morning Cartoons_, so go watch my profile for new story ideas and updates. **

**You guys are awesome and hopefully you guys will respond to this one like you guys respond to my others.**

**Also as you guys read you'll find details from my favorite Disney movie The Little Mermaid! I watched it last night and I was searching for the sequel when I remembered I was going to use **

**Love ya, Rachelle. **

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><p><em>I ain't afraid to drown, if that means I'm deep up in your ocean, yeah<em>  
><em>Girl I'll drink you down, sipping on your body all night<em>  
><em>I just wanna take your legs an' wrap them round<em>  
><em>Girl you cummin' right now<em>  
><em>My head to your chest feeling your heartbeat, girl<em>  
><em>Swimming all in your sea<em>  
><em>And you sweatin' all over me<em>  
><em>Girl, lean forward, don't you run, girl<em>  
><em>I don't want to be a minute man<em>  
><em>Baby you're just like a storm<em>  
><em>Rainin' on me girl, you're soakin' wet<em>

_"Wet The Bed"- Chris Brown_

Gabriella turned toward her home swimming playfully with the dolphins as she passed. She kissed one by the blowhole and patted another on the nose before entering the kingdom. She pushed the gates and made sure not to lose the clutch she had on her pouch.

She swam, smiling at the other mermaids in jewel encrusted _Atlantis_. Everyone seemed so happy and content, the way she wanted to be with herself. She finally settled in the bright and colorful coral reef in front of the castle, resting from her journey.

She frowned at her orange-red tail. She stroked it then opened her beloved pouch to take out her comb, the one she had carved diligently from whale bone. She ran it softly through her hair humming to herself and watching the others.

She wanted feet.

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><p>Troy's eyes opened slowly. He rolled over looking for the redhead he was with earlier. She had disappeared and instead a brunette was at his side. He frowned then remembered he had sent for another female after the redhead had fell unconscious.<p>

He rubbed at his eyes sleepily and looked down at the girl calling her, when he tapped her he realized she too was unconscious like the one from before.

He rolled his eyes and collected his garments from his tiled floor, "Chad!" he shouted groggily. Chad walked in and looked at the naked female with a chuckle.

"This is the 8th half dead woman I've had to collect from your room this week." he shook his head and picked her up bridal style, "It's like you are on a mission to kill them all."

Troy laughed sleepily, "It's not my fault."

He turned to his bureau and touched the bags under his eyes from all his sex escapades.

Because of the curse the gods placed on them, the nymphs needed sex. They were created as positively sexual creatures, they ate then fucked, slept and awoke with a tent in their sheets, came from a tiring day but their blood would still find a reason to heatedly rush beneath their unblemished skin. They were always so horny. The only problem with this was that nymph women weren't desirable to many nymph men. Unless two nymphs were to be bonded, they could not make love. Troy was not trying to be tied down so early in his life just for one same pussy. Some things just got old for Troy fast, and that just seemed to be one of them.

He watched the reflection of Chad walking out of the room with the girl in his arms and turned back to his bed, though he was unable to sleep.

He ran a hand down his face and inhaled the fresh oxygen of the Nymph Kingdom. As king over all nymph creatures, he had duties. He had to keep all nymphs supplied with all the air they needed. The indestructible and invisible dome that kept the nymphs cut off from seawater had been there for millennia bonded by the forces of the gods to keep their creation alive and he had to make sure it stayed that way.

His next was to keep human females supplied to his army to keep them strong. He hated that most of all because he wanted all them women for himself but he refused to step on territory of his brothers, instead he had his own supplied to him.

He weakly smiled thinking of how perverted he was, he didn't mean to be but he couldn't avoid it. Without a soul mate he found no need to stop himself from harmfully looking and dropping the occasion tissue or pen.

He chuckled to himself and scratched his scalp, his eyes now trained on the ceiling and counting all the ruby jewels encrusted there.

He heard his door open and looked up with a smile, "Sharpay."

"Troy." she raised her eyebrows at his cheeriness.

"Come here." he sat up and patted his hand on his soft mattress. She climbed on his bed and shook her head, "You look like crap."

"Thanks." he shrugged and rubbed at his eyes again. "Is lunch ready?"

"Yeah, we were just waiting for you to wake up." she bumped shoulders with him, "So which one was your favorite?" she teased.

"Would it be bad if I said they all became one person?" he chuckled. She giggled and pushed his shoulder telling him how horrible he was.

Troy's closest friend was and always will be Chad, the leader of his army, but his guilty pleasure was to talk to Sharpay, a nymph female. She was a spitfire, always so full of life. She made him feel special and guilty for his ways at the same time. She was truly his best friend.

"Come on, get your ass out of bed." She pulled on his arm. He pulled himself up and followed her out the door. Maids, guards, and brothers from his army greeted him kindly. It was a normal occurrence for Troy to rarely be at the table for breakfast but to be walking half naked into the dining hall at a half hour past lunchtime.

Troy was not rude but he didn't enjoy clothes very much.

Sharpay took her seat across from him and next to Chad. They both stared him down as he filled his plate and stuffed his face at the same time. Feeling eyes on him, he looked up, chewing loudly and stiffly.

"What?" he said with his mouth full.

Sharpay started laughing and Chad rolled his eyes. Troy's eyebrows furrowed as he piled more bacon on his plate. They ate in silence before Chad spoke up pulling Troy's plate forward a bit, "It's Giving season, Troy." he rose his eyebrows.

"I know." he said swallowing down the food in cheeks, "I think I want to do the wish idea you guys came up with. Maybe I'll include a few tweaks of my own." he bit off a piece of bacon.

"Really?" Chad chuckled. He and Sharpay shared a knowing look, Troy was not truly a giving person outside the bed.

"What kind of tweaks, Troysie?" Sharpay pulled a slice of ham off his plate to put on her own.

"You know…" he trailed off with a chuckle, "A little bargaining never hurt anybody."

"Really?" Chad inquired. Troy nodded with a warm smile, "I'm giving them what they want right? Why can't I _receive_ a little favor?" He took his ham back with a scolding look in Sharpay's direction, "It's Giving Season isn't it?"

Once again Sharpay and Chad shared another knowing look.

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><p>Gabriella swam out of the castle bright and early that morning and pulled her pouch over her neck. She decided she'd go over to the Deep Reef to collect some shells and mess around with the young ones.<p>

She swam haphazardly through the gates and tried to get to her destination unnoticed. She realized that no one had arrived yet and she began her quest of retrieving items from the "Above" that had found their way to her home. She'd find shells later.

As she went lower she noticed a shiny locket, preciously covered in sand and obviously forgotten. She picked up the silver heart onto her fingertips and opened it, looking for a picture. Instead she found nothing and put it in her purse.

She swam and found other precious objects, a strange human comb (fork), a mirror, a trinket box, and even a charm, shaped like an apple that she heard were round and luscious in the Siren Kingdom. Two young mermaids greeted her and she continued her business while they spoke.

"Did you hear that the Nymph King is giving everyone their own wishes for giving season?" the bright red haired one said.

"No, I didn't! How exciting!" the one with short green hair cheered. Gabriella perked up.

"Anything we want! Our most deepest and darkest desires can come true! I heard he's full of magic!" she continued. "I wish to become his slave for eternity, the news is that he's beautiful." she sighed happily, "At six today to midnight, he's setting up a glass wall so he'll be able to talk to us and there will be a slot where he'll pass us our contracts of promise. I'm so excited!"

Gabriella looked around in her purse and picked up the pocket watch she had found earlier that week and saw she had a half hour to put on her best shells and to finally have her dream come true.

She was going to get her wish.

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><p>Sharpay skipped happily until she collided into the back of Troy's body. "Dammit, you big oaf! People are behind you!" she screeched and righted herself.<p>

Troy turned to her very amused and pulled her into his side, "You're the oaf if you are falling all over the place like that."

She tried to wiggle herself free but he kept a tight hold on her. "Walk with me love, why are you trying to squirm away?"

"Ugh, you are so annoying." she said giving up and finally leaning into his intoxicating scent, "But you smell so amazing."

They shared a laugh knowing that his scent was involuntary, like everything else that came with the package dubbed Troy.

They walked over to the wall that had just been constructed. Chad was already standing there holding a large stack of plain but browning paper. Troy smiled and released Sharpay then took the papers from Chad. Sharpay stayed behind already flirting mercilessly with a few dryads.

Troy and Chad continued walking to the seat prepared for Troy. Troy set the papers next to the seat and adjusted his king's attire before sitting. With a noble nod to Chad who returned it, he cued for the men to open the gates. People from all kingdoms began flooding in, after granting several wishes a timid brunette mermaid swam toward him.

He leaned forward on his elbows with a curious and amused expression on his handsome face. He had a sharp intake of breath when she looked up at him, finally a look of surprise settled on his features. What could this beautiful mermaid not have? Her big chocolate doe eyes were framed by long dark eyelashes. She had long dark locks that framed her arms and stopped above her waist. Her glamor was effortless. Her orange red tail shimmered a soft yellow at the end and moved slowly and in an unheard rhythm to keep her afloat. Truly, what did she not have?

"Hello." he said with a smile. Chad looked down at his friend with a knowing smile on his face, Troy was not going to play fair on this one.

"Hi." she said shyly. Her pouch hung loosely about her torso and Troy was curious to know what was in it.

"What can I do for you today?" Troy smiled.

"Umm, a wish." she mumbled lamely.

He chuckled heartily, "Isn't that why we're all here?"

She blushed and gave him and nod. She cleared her throat and looked in his face determinedly, "I want feet." she said.

Troy's eyebrows rose in an entertained fashion, "What's your name?"

"Gabriella." she said bravely. He nodded as if testing the name in his mind, "Why do you need these feet Gabriella? Where will you walk or dance?"

"It doesn't matter if I get these feet for only a day but I was hoping that you'd give me a piece of land for merely a few hours. I just desire to run about!" she pleaded.

Troy smiled and examined her beautiful tail then looked back up to her beautiful face. "What if I bring you here? What if to appease your desire for feet, you may live here?"

Gabriella nodded excitedly, "I'd like that very much King Bolton."

"Troy." he said warily and picked up a piece of paper. Chad watched over his shoulder as Troy wrote the deal on the paper. He shook his head amusedly, knowing that the brunette would only sign away and would not read over it.

"On this sheet of paper," Troy explained as he slid the paper and pen through the space, "Are your terms for living in the Nymph Kingdom, Gabriella. At noon tomorrow you will be brought here with your belongings and to my room in my kingdom. I'll fix you up with nice legs and feet and we'll unpack your things in a room of your choice. You will be here for life and allowed to visit your family and friends on holidays and birthdays. During Giving Season you are allowed one minor wish since you are to be a member of my palace. Anything else I should add?" he looked up.

She was having trouble containing her grin of joy and she shrugged, "I am forever in debt to you King Troy, whatever else will be fine."

Troy nodded with a smirk and looked up at Chad whose eyes had widened at the brunette. "That sounds reasonable, Gabriella." Troy took the contract and pen back and wrote something quickly and passed them back. "Pass me your pretty little hand please." She shoved her hand in the slot and Troy bit down on her index finger.

She shrieked in pain and withdrew her hand quickly. "Press your finger to the paper and sign away, beautiful, and I'll see you tomorrow."

Gabriella scribbled her name and placed her finger on the paper hurriedly. "See you tomorrow." she smiled gratefully.

Troy and Chad watched her swim off and the king signaled to close the gates.

"She's going to regret this." Chad tisked.

"Nonsense Chad, she's going to have the time of her life." Troy chuckled, "Trust me."

"You're horrible, just despicable." he took the contract from Troy's hands and folded it.

"I've been called worse." he shrugged.

"Sharpay! Leave them be!" Chad called across the meadow to the nymph woman who had gotten too cosy with the dryads and gave Troy one last disapproving look.

Troy fixed his robes and laughed to himself and headed toward his home. Tomorrow could not come any faster.

_Lost till you're found_  
><em>Swim till you drown<em>  
><em>Know that we all fall down<em>  
><em>Love till you hate<em>  
><em>Strong till you break<em>  
><em>Know that we all fall down<em>

_"All Fall Down"- OneRepublic_

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><p><strong>Enjoy?<strong>

**Review and tell me how much exactly :)**

**Rachelle**


	2. Chapter 2

**The more review the faster the update.**

**Enjoy.**

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><p>Gabriella packed her last bag and picked up her pouch to put over her head. After taking one last look around her room she smiled softly at the thought of the new life she'll begin in another hour.<p>

She received a knock and saw her father enter the room. "Morning." she greeted.

"Good morning." he said with a depressed sigh, "Are you sure you want to do this?"

Gabriella turned her back on him and nodded, "I'm sure."

"And you don't want me to look over the contract for you at least before you even consider going?" he tried.

"Father, it's my decision. And I made this decision as an adult, the King and I spoke about its details. I'm sure I can come and go whenever I please." she fibbed a little.

"Well, they sent a message for you, to meet them at the gates."

"Then I guess this is goodbye." she finally turned around twiddling her thumbs. She smiled softly. He leaned forward and embraced her their tails entwining.

"I love you." she kissed his cheek warmly.

"I love you more than you imagine. Write to me." he told her. She nodded and watched him leave her room. She picked up her bags and swam to the gates of the Nymph Kingdom without looking back.

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><p>"Where is she, Troy? She's late!" Sharpay frowned looking up at the clock on the wall.<p>

Troy shrugged and looked up at the clock also. "Maybe she changed her mind."

"She couldn't. She wouldn't! You said she wanted these feet so much, why would she change her mind?" Sharpay frowned, "I was looking forward to making a new friend."

Troy chuckled, then turned when he heard Chad screaming his name. "What?"

"She's here but she can't breathe. She's dying." Chad leaned forward on his knees trying to catch his breath, "She's flopping around on the front yard like a fish."

"She is a fish, Chad, and who told you to bring her in here!" He rushed past Chad and laughed at the predicament. Sharpay followed close behind him and watched as he bent over the mermaid.

"Troy, she can't breathe because she doesn't have lungs, all of you are idiots. She was living in water she can't just be brought here and be expected to breathe like us." She yelled over to them.

She watched as Troy waved a hand of dismissal at her then he picked up the young female in his arms. He directed the guards with her things to put them in the guest room next to Troy's. Sharpay smiled as she saw the girl was able to breathe now and her new legs were hanging limply over Troy's forearms.

"She's pretty." Sharpay complimented.

"I know." Troy chuckled.

* * *

><p>Gabriella weakly opened her eyes to see a figure standing in her doorway. She stretched and rubbed her eyes. Suddenly, she leaned over the side of the bed and began to cough up water. She wiped her mouth and looked up to see Troy smiling down at her.<p>

"Good morning, sleepyhead. You slept all through yesterday we thought we'd killed you." he handed her a cup of water. She took it thankfully and set it down on the night table. Troy bent and began to clean the water Gabriella coughed up and grinned at her.

She returned it hesitantly and burrowed herself deeper into the sheets.

"Hi." she said hoarsely.

Troy chuckled, "How are you feeling?"

"Okay." Gabriella responded timidly.

Troy nodded and picked the sheets up off of her to straighten them, finding her bottom half naked. Troy bit his lip as he stared at her long tan legs. He put the sheets back down and untied her shell brassiere. He lifted her arm and pulled it to the side then successfully took it off of her.

He pulled up the sheets quickly and smirked to himself throwing the stupid thing in the garbage. He then went to the closet and pulled out one of the sundresses Sharpay had picked out and hung it up on the mirror. "Breakfast is ready, whenever you want to come and eat." He told her sleeping form.

He began to leave the room when he heard her finally speak lively, "How do I get there?"

Troy laughed and walked back to her, grinning at her worried face. He took the sundress off the mirror and handed it to her. "I'm going to go get Sharpay. Do you like the room?"

"I thought I got to choose?" she furrowed her eyebrows as she looked around the huge jewel encrusted room.

"You did, while I carried you-in your unconscious state-you mumbled something suspiciously close to "Take me into this one, Troy." Don't you remember?" Troy smiled.

Gabriella shook her head confused, "I was unconscious wasn't I?"

"Sure." he shrugged and picked up one of her bags and put it on the butterfly chair in the corner of the room.

"You're crazy." she shook her head and pulled her sheets up to her chest.

"I've been told." he smiled, noticing she was examining her legs. She raised her eyes to look to see if he was still standing there, "Why do I have hair on my stomach?"

Troy raised a confused eyebrow and walked over to her to see what she was talking about. When he was about to look she pulled the sheets to herself quickly, "You can't look. You'll see the rest of me." she said modestly.

Troy's face twitched with laughter but he refused to show that he was making a joke of the situation. When it dawned on him that she was talking about her pubic hair, the soft brown tuft of curls he remembered gracing her with, he shook his head, "Let me just go and get Sharpay, you can show her."

"Is Sharpay a girl?"

"Yes." Troy said with a chuckle. "I'll see you at lunch."

"I thought you said breakfast?" she frowned.

"I don't eat breakfast often." he looked back at the doorway as one of the servants passed, "Today is just one of those days."

"I'd only consider it hospitable if you sit at the table so I don't feel uncomfortable with people I don't know. I'm your guest." she looked away sheepishly.

Troy looked at her puzzled, "I'll think about it."

"Think hard." she chided and fell back on her pillows put her face in them. He nodded and walked out of her room, looking for Sharpay. When he saw her whispering into one of his soldiers's ear, he pulled on her arm, "I need you to go and help Gabriella."

She nodded with a sigh, "I was really hungry." she gave a look to the man she was talking with.

Troy rolled his eyes, "Make her feel welcome, get to know her, and be nice." he gave her a reprimanding look.

"I'm always nice." she huffed and walked to Gabriella's room. She poked her head in the room and looked around, "Gabriella?"

The small girl looked up from her huge round bed, pillows falling aside and onto the floor. Sharpay laughed and began to search her bags for toiletries. "Troy blessed you with many pillows I see."

"Are you Sharpay?" Gabriella asked as she began to sit up again.

"Yeah, I'm Sharpay. Do you have soap and a sponge? Lotion? Not even panties?" Sharpay looked at her unbelieving as the brunette continued to shake her head at her questions.

"I have a comb." she smiled.

Sharpay giggled, "Okay."

She started to pull Gabriella up from the bed. "C'mon now, into the bathroom with you."

Gabriella stood then collapsed into a heap on the floor and the two girls fell into a fit of giggles. Sharpay pulled a towel from the rack near the closet and Gabriella watched her tuck the towel around her naked form. She began to stand again, taking two wobbly first steps, she reached for Sharpay who supported her to the bathroom. She sat on the toilet seat, "Sharpay?"

She turned from the tub that she was setting for Gabriella. "What's up?"

"Why do I have hair on my stomach? I asked Troy and it seemed to be a joke to him."

"Was it here?" Sharpay let her hand hover over her middle and Gabriella nodded placing her hand on her own center.

"Oh my, you don't know what that is do you?" Gabriella shook her head. Sharpay turned back to the water and tested the bubble bath to make sure it wasn't too hot. "I'll try and explain everything in a minute." She pulled the towel from around her body and helped her into the bath.

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><p>"Gabriella sit here." Sharpay pulled her wobbling friend to the seat next to her. Troy smiled at them as they giggled at something he didn't hear.<p>

People were already eating including Troy and Chad. Gabriella looked down at the food Sharpay put in front of her. She looked around the room then picked up the fork and began to comb her hair. Everyone turned to her and cocked their heads and eyebrows in curiosity. Gabriella twirled her hair around the utensil meeting everyone's gaze with equal curiosity. Sharpay put a warm hand on Gabriella's, unwinding her wild hair from the fork and taking it from her. She wiped it with her napkin, Gabriella watched her suspiciously and looked up at Troy who was still watching her with amusement in his eyes.

"You eat with this, sweetheart." Sharpay handed it back to her.

Gabriella nodded and picked it up awkwardly. She flipped it around between her fingers and watched Chad as he picked up his food with his fork.

"What is this even called?"

"A fork." Sharpay giggled.

Gabriella examined it and picked it up then stabbing it forcefully into the bacon, effectively breaking her plate.

Troy's eyes widened and he reached across the table to pick up the remnants of the breakfast before it ruined the tablecloth, "Chad, take Gabriella to the garden, I don't think she's very hungry. I'll meet you there."

"Why?" Gabriella looked up and bit the bacon on her fork. Chad hooked a hand around her arm and pulled her up.

"Let go of me, you big idiot!" she exclaimed. Eating the rest of the bacon, she then barreled her hand through the air and pushed the fork down on Chad's arm, stabbing him with it.

Troy and Sharpay shared a smile and Troy circled the table before taking her hand and pulling her along. "Someone take the fork out of Chad, I'll be back."

Gabriella frowned up at Troy, "Where are you taking me?"

"We're going to go out for a while, look around the city." Troy smiled. She obediently followed and leaned in to smell him. "You smell nice."

He looked down at her with a laugh, "So do you."

"I've never smelt anything before, all this is new to me." she looked up at him pleadingly, "Will you help me understand it all?"

"Of course." Troy picked up her hand and kissed it. "What do you want to understand?"

Gabriella looked up at him, her eyes filled with curious delight. She pulled her hand from his and ran up to the orange tree jumping to get the fruit hanging there. Troy chuckled and jogged after her, reaching up and pulling the orange from its branch. He handed it to her and she smiled her gratitude before staring at it's perfect form, "This is an orange isn't it?"

"Yes." Troy looked around the area, "You want to add an apple to your growing collection?"

Her eyes widened and she nodded with joy and ran off in the direction of the apple trees. She came to an unnerving halt, crashing into a tree and dropping her orange amongst the newly fallen apples. Troy laughed heartily, "Are you alright?"

She looked up embarrassedly and nodded, "I'm still having trouble coming to a stop with these things." she looked down at her legs, placing the blame on them.

Troy pulled an apple from the tree and handed it to her, "You are unlike anyone I have ever met, Gabriella."

"Am I dashing?" she looked up expectantly.

"You are pleasantly more dashing than I would ever admit." Troy watched her slowly take the apple and then search for her orange. She stood and tripped over the apples around her and grabbed onto Troy's arm. He looked down at her.

"I think I like you!" she blurted.

Troy smirked, "I think I like you too." Gabriella pushed herself off of him and then picked up her orange.

"Do you want to go into the market so we can get you a bag? Then we can go collect cherries and strawberries even."

"I'd like that." Gabriella smiled.

_Score one for Troy_, he congratulated himself in his consciously. He watched the blush creep up into her cheeks as they walked through the market and people bowed to them and politely greeted her.

She was truly beautiful and he couldn't wait to get her back into the castle to show her what he could make her feel.

* * *

><p>"So what's really on her contract?" Sharpay asked Chad as she looked out the window and into the courtyard.<p>

"She's Troy's. In return for giving her the feet she belongs to Troy." Chad said with a slow smile.

Sharpay shook her head, "And she just signed her life away like that?"

"Not quite, she doesn't know Troy like we do. He fed her all the sweet stuff, like she'll have a room of her choice in the castle and she'll be able to go home on holidays and birthdays if she pleased, she'll even get a minor wish during Giving Seasons. Then when he asked if there was anything he forgot and she said she's forever in debt to him." Chad shook his head, "She didn't know what she was saying."

"Sometimes I think Troy is such a horrible person but I feel he did something right this time. She's different from all the other whores that come through here."

"That's because she's not a whore. She doesn't know anything about him, and he's treating her like she's on top of the world right now. All those beautiful dresses, the best room in the castle, he's escorting her personally around the place." Chad rubbed the wound on his arm, "She just doesn't understand what he wants from her yet."

"Now I feel worse. I had to explain to her what the hell was between her legs. Troy did this on purpose didn't he? He's going to take control of her ignorance."

Chad nodded with a grimace, "You should have saw the look on his face when she first came up to him, he already knew what he was going to say to her before she said anything."

"The gods gave the wrong nymph that much intelligence." Sharpay concluded.

"She's stronger than we give her credit for, definitely something to watch out for."

"Only to you, Chad." Sharpay turned form the window and giggled at him, "She's only a danger to you."

"Well, maybe to Troy also, Troy better make sure he plays his cards well before putting her in his bed, she could seriously injure him."

"Who can resist, Troy?" she said with incredulous breath, "I can't even stop myself from hugging him let alone saying yes. He's _Troy_."

Chad shrugged, "So far I haven't seen her throw herself at him, she's just comfortable... Have you?"

Sharpay shook her head then tilted it thoughtfully, "You are certainly on to something Chad."

"I think this is going to be the first challenge Troy will ever have."

"Hopefully... I always wished to see the downfall of Troy Bolton. Who would have known it might be a woman?"

Chad chuckled, "The same thing he loves so much may be the death of him."

Sharpay nodded and slapped Chad's wound "I'm going to get grapes."

Chad watched her while rubbing his arm, "See you around." he sighed.

* * *

><p>Gabriella reached to grab the dangling necklace when a harsh hand came down on hers. she looked up hesitantly hoping Troy would come and save her when she remembered she had left him half way across the market while he was flirting with some human girl.<p>

"What do you think you're doing pretty little lady?" a handsome man about a few years older than her with a hoarse voice bellowed.

"I want this necklace. It's beautiful, I'll pay whatever." she bargained as she pulled her hand away and stared into the man's deep green eyes.

"Your tongue shouldn't be so loose in a town like this, this is the Nymph Kingdom we take what we can get... What is_ open_." he gestured to her.

"Excuse me?" she asked quizzically. How was she _open?_

"You're not from around here are you?" he laughed.

"No. I'm from Atlantis." she said reaching up to pull down the necklace.

"That's not for sale." he took her hand in his again.

"It has a tag and it's on the rack, from what I know it's _open_ for consumers to take." she argued and finally took it down to admire it.

"I like you, you're very smart." he joked. "And if you are from Atlantis where is your tail?"

"For Giving Season I recieved feet. Why is it any of your business?" she frowned.

"I'm Jason. Will you tell me your name?" he smiled warmly.

She shrugged, "How about I give you my name for the necklace?" she bartered.

"I wish it was that easy to give up..." he said teasingly.

"My name is Gabriella." she finally gave.

"Why are you flitting around with the King in these parts? You seem nice, not the type to give your body over." Jason shook his head as if in mock shame.

"What do you mean? I didn't give anyone my body." she asked him confused.

"Ah, so no one told you what the King is famous for, huh?" he quirked an eyebrow.

"No, I'm afraid not."

"Ask him, he'll tell you." Jason nodded his head off in the other direction. She turned her head and saw Troy coming their way. Jason smiled at her baffled expression.

"The necklace, it's 100. It was a family heirloom but I'm losing my home, so take it. It's beautiful." Jason smiled kindly.

"Jason..." she sighed now wondering if she really needed the necklace.

"Please just take it, Gabriella of Atlantis. You are helping me more than you know."

Gabriella felt an arm come around her waist. "How much is that?" she heard mumbled in her hair.

"100." she smiled, "Troy?"

"Yes?" Troy began counting the bills he had in his pocket he pulled out the hundred and turned to her.

"My friend Jason," she gestured to the black haired man. "He's losing his home, may his gift for Giving Season be half the down payment he owes the bank? I'll pay you back, I want him to consider it a gift from me."

Gabriella pleaded with her eyes, "Please, Troy?"

Jason began to protest but Troy looked him and his shop over and pulled out a stack of bills from his back pocket. "How much?"

"You don't have to." he argued.

"_How much?_" Troy said determinedly.

"I owe the bank 100,000." he mumbled.

Troy counted the money and nodded curtly, "That's 50,000 and here is the hundred for the necklace." he tapped the bill he had already placed there.

"Wow, thank you." Jason bowed his head.

"Don't thank me, thank Gabriella." Troy smirked.

"Thanks Gabriella. Enjoy the necklace." Jason smiled at her.

Troy narrowed his eyes at them, at the blush creeping it's way up Gabriella's cheek, then at the sparkle in Jason's eyes. Troy then growled when Gabriella bent over the counter to place a kind kiss on Jason's cheek. "You are very welcome, Jason. Tell no one of this! Have a happy Giving Season."

Jason averted his eyes trying to avoid Troy's gaze, "You too, Miss Atlantis, you too. Your kind heart will get you very far."

Gabriella tugged on Troy's hand and gave a small wave to her new friend, "I'll see you around!" Troy took that as an opportunity to pull Gabriella along.

"I'll pay you back in full, Troy, you are very kind." she smiled up at him.

Troy shook his head, "That is the last time you are to do that."

"Why?"

"Because I can't give 50 grand to the whole city, Gabriella. It was great that you wanted to help but you barely know him, he could raise a riot and start a war!" Troy reprimanded.

"Why can't you just be nice?" Gabriella frowned.

"I'm nice to you aren't I?" he chuckled.

She pulled her hand away from his, "Too nice..."

"Oh gods, I leave you for two minutes and some small towner has turned you against me already?" he grumbled.

"What do you want from me, Troy?"

"Why can't I just be nice?" he mocked.

"I believe you can be nice but have cruel intentions, why did you bring me here?" she frowned.

"You wanted land I gave you land, you wanted feet and you have those too. You needed somewhere to stay, I gave you somewhere to stay! I'm just being kind!" Troy sighed, "What else do you want, I can give it to you!"

"What do you do with women, Troy? The word is that you're flitting me around. Am I _open_?"

"Do you even know what that means?"

"Are you going to tell me?" she stopped walking and crossed her arms.

"You know what, we're not going to do this right now." Troy reached for her and pulled her thin arm. They walked in silence before Gabriella spoke up weakly, "It means I'm a whore, huh?"

"But you aren't one." Troy argued.

"I cannot be made one either." Gabriella frowned, "I know what a vagina is and how it works, I know why men have some penis thing, and I know I'm a virgin. But what makes you think I'll have sex with you?"

"You surely learn a lot in a day of being here don't you?" he chuckled.

"Is that why you brought me here? Because I won't do it if that's what you think." she said stubbornly. Troy stopped short and let out a loud laugh, "Let's make a bet, Gabriella."

"Are you suggesting that we test my will power?" she sneered.

"That is exactly what I'm suggesting. If you have sex with me in the next month then you never have to worry about me thinking that I have a chance at getting in your underwear."

"But…" she nodded hesitantly.

"But if you do, you're mine. Which means no other men, no talking to other men, no looking at other men, and you are to sleep in my bed chamber from then on. Every night you are mine, I won't take no for an answer. You are to wear what ever lingerie piece I desire. We are to do what I desire and you cannot refuse. I am a very jealous lover, Gabriella, so don't make nice with other men in the kingdom so soon. I'll kill them with my own hands." Troy gave her his persuading smile.

"And for how long?" Gabriella bargained.

He stepped forward, "For eternity...can you handle it?"

"Yes. Yes I can." she nodded deftly.

"So we have a deal?" He smiled and rubbed her forearms. She pulled away and walked ahead of him, "I'm afraid so."

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><p><strong>Read and Review.<strong>

**Rachelle. :D**


	3. Chapter 3

It hadn't been easy for the past week to listen to Troy making love to the other human women that were around the castle.

She tossed and turned and put pillows over her head to deafen each woman's screams. It didn't sound like he was pleasuring them, it sounded like he was torturing them…well, it did until she heard their cries die down into whimpers and moans.

What was so good about this sex thing anyway? Why did the nymphs absolutely _have_ to have it?

She took the pillow off of her heard when she realized there weren't going to be any screams that night, it was the same as yesterday. Her eyes crinkled in confusion and she got up and walked to Troy's room. Giving a hesitant knock Gabriella sighed when she'd heard whimpers, thinking she had made a terrible mistake.

Though as the whimpers sounded once more, she realized they were Troy's and made a face of repulsion, looking to turn and leave. Troy threw the door open, his eyes red as ever and drenched in sweat.

"Troy?"

He pulled her arm and brought her inside before closing the door softly and looked to her with a small smile, "Hey."

She looked around the room and frowned, "No girl tonight?"

Troy shook his head as he took her hand and led her to his bed. She stopped and watched him climb under his sheets and rest his head on his pillows.

"Come here." he coaxed.

She shook her head and Troy reached and wrapped his large hand around her small one, "Please." The red of his eyes and the watery blue told her that now was not a time for her foolish defiance and pride. She sat with him and he leaned on her keeping his head up so he could talk to her properly.

"Are you alright?" she asked him lowly.

Troy shook his head and looked to her, "You're going to think I'm a monster."

"What'd you do?" she frowned. Troy was not a monster, he was the most kindhearted, loving man she'd ever met. Maybe not very chivalrous or sexually modest but he did make very nice company.

"I killed a girl Friday night…" he said rubbing furiously at his eyes.

"What did she do?" Gabriella asked confused.

"Nothing, she didn't do anything." He sat up and wiped at his face, "She didn't do anything on purpose." His voice cracked.

"You killed the girl you bedded that night?" she frowned. "Sex kills people?"

Troy chuckled hoarsely and turned to her with his blotchy, tearstained face, "You are so ignorant."

"No, I am not. I just don't know some things." she corrected.

"Exactly what I mean." He sat back and sniffled. "I didn't mean to. You believe me right?" he watched her facial expressions turn from grief to remorse then settling on sorrow.

"Yes, I believe you." she smiled and put a soft hand on his face, "You are too kind to hurt someone, Troy."

"Thank you." he nodded and touched the hand on his face. He put it in his lap and looked away, "You should have seen the look on Chad's face when he realized she wasn't alive. I felt horrible, like some kind of evil person for doing what I need to so I can live." Troy rubbed at his eyes again, trying to will himself not to cry, "I've pent myself up in this room, I feel so weak and halfhearted. You must think I'm horrible."

"Well, how did she die?"

"Choked to death…"

They sat in an awkward silence, Gabriella finally caught on to what he meant and what she must have choked on and looked down at his crotch, "There must be a million things you can do with that thing huh?"

Troy looked back at her with a smirk, "Now's not the moment to start talking dirty to me, Gabriella."

"I wasn't being dirty. I was just wondering." she giggled.

"You just made me feel ten times better by being so unconventionally funny." he smiled and turned on his side to watch her as she spoke.

"You're going to think I'm weird, but can I ask you something?" Gabriella said sheepishly, her cheeks flaming in embarrassment.

"Okay." he smiled tenderly.

"Can I see it?" she asked softly, "I just want to know what it looks like…"

Troy's eyes widened at her request. "Right now?"

"You don't have to if you don't want to…"

"What about the bet?"

She bit her lip hesitantly, "Our bet doesn't say anything against it…"

Troy nodded after a while and pulled up the sheets she held them up for him and he pulled down his boxers and held it up for her. In the lamplight it looked beautiful, slightly darker than the rest of his skin tone, circumcised, and blessed with a big pink head. Gabriella absentmindedly licked her lips.

It seemed that his love tool sang a song, an alluring song that made her reach out and wrap her hand around it. Troy's eyes studied her suspiciously, not wanting to jump to conclusions and slowly let go of his penis to let her stroke it to full length.

He watched the delight in her eyes when a bead of precum began to form at the head to drizzle down his huge member. He lied back as she worked her magical touch and closed his eyes in bliss as the pleasure surged through him and filled his cheeks with color, the color he'd been missing for the day. After a few minutes, he heard Gabriella gasp in surprise as her hand was covered with his love nectar. He squeezed his eyes shut and let out a low groan before feeling Gabriella lie back on his chest. He cracked his eyes open to see her staring up at him as she sniffed her hand then rested it on his chest.

"What was that?" she asked him concerned, "Are you okay?"

He grinned and gave her a small chuckle, "I'm great."

"You sounded like you were hurt…" her brows furrowed and reached for a tissue to wipe her hand.

He watched her clean him up and stare at his cock for a while, "Did you have an organism?"

"Orgasm." he corrected with a snort and then nodded his head.

"That doesn't count in the bet right?" she frowned thoughtfully and dropped his penis onto his lower stomach.

"No." he shook his head. "You didn't have sex with me, so I guess it doesn't."

"You look better." she said noticing the color in his cheeks.

Troy smirked before brushing the loose hair out of her face, "That's what orgasms do to nymphs."

"Am I a nymph?" she said questioningly.

"No, you are still a mermaid… I think." he shrugged, bringing his hand down her arm.

She nodded thoughtfully before looking at him under her long eyelashes, "Can I stay the night with you?" she mentally cursed her self for the pleased look that passed in Troy's eyes, "It's…you know…umm…cold in my room." she excused pitifully.

Troy tried not to smile, too amused for his own good. "Only if I can hold you…for body heat of course."

She nodded self righteously, "For body heat."

Troy pulled his boxers up and opened his arms; she maneuvered her way into them, her head under his chin and hands on his torso. He pulled the sheets up around them and turned off the lamp.

"Troy?"

"Yes, Gabriella."

"Can I squirt liquid like that too?"

Troy smiled smugly, "We'd have to try it to see if you can some time."

"Okay."

"You are the most intriguing female to ever walk the seas, Gabriella."

"You better mean that." she warned.

"I do, I definitely do." He tried to see her in the dark but instead he settled for feeling her, he slipped his hand under the sheets and under her shirt, placing his palm flat on her back.

"I'm not going to lose this bet Troy, I can't afford to." she said slowly.

"Well, what are the stakes if you do? I'd make it the best time of your life, Gabriella." Troy whispered.

"I'm sure you will but I want to get married and entwine with someone some day, have babies of my own."

"What does entwine mean?" he felt her reach up and hold his cheek, proving that she still had the vision of a mermaid in the deep sea and could see him perfectly.

"It's when two mermaids really love each other and they lock tails, scale by scale and flipper by flipper in the coral reef. It's how mermaids are created."

"Where do they come from?" he said confused. He felt like a little kid asking his mother where he came from again.

"No one is quite sure. It's magic." Gabriella said with a happy sigh.

"Like me? I'm made of magic." he said with hopeful hint to his voice.

"Really?" Gabriella giggled a bit, "How were you made, Troy?"

"No one is quite sure actually." he said sorrowfully.

"What do you mean?" she frowned in the darkness, she looked up and watched his eyes stare blankly at nothing.

"Well, I am unlike any other nymph here in the kingdom. I was left on the doorstep of the queen and she raised me. They say I hiccupped bubbles and made flowers bloom when I touched them. The only way I could tell I was a nymph was that after fifteenth year, I couldn't survive without sexuality. It was utterly impossible." Troy sighed and looked down at her as if he was still trying to see her, "I remember when I asked how babies were made, my mother told me that not all babies were made like me. I was made out of magic."

Gabriella giggled, "Well, it explains how special you are."

"I guess." He rubbed her back a little, "That's what I'm going to tell my kid when I decide to settle down and have a family, that they were made from magic."

"Sounds wonderful." she said gently. She wiggled herself from his grasp and turned on the lamp again.

"I don't think I want to sleep tonight." Gabriella feverishly. "I want to know more about you."

Troy buried his face in his pillow, "There is not much to learn."

"Then can I tell you about me?" Gabriella put a hand on his shoulder to push him on his back, she couldn't see his face and she didn't think that was a good sign.

He looked up and smiled at her, "Go ahead."

"I was adopted too, my parents whoever they were had left me in the coral reef and my daddy found me, naked and screaming. His wife had died and they had always wanted a baby but they could never seem to have one. He said I was a blessing and raised me as his own, he named me Gabriella after her." she smiled happily, "He said she was beautiful and that if he didn't know any better he would have sworn I was their child and that they didn't look hard enough for me."

"How did she die?"

"The Siren King took her captive." she said sullenly. "He brought her tail back to my father after the war. Daddy still has it in a box we keep in the cellar. It's quite sad."

Troy frowned also, he didn't like the thought of having someone he loved dearly being held captive and cut in two. The thought terrified him. He then saw her pull out a little pouch from her pajama pocket and open it carefully before dumping the contents before him.

"This pouch was my mother's, if I can call her that. Everything I find or receive that I think is precious or just means a lot to me, I put it in here." she looked up and smiled at him.

"This is the orange peel from the orange you gave me last week. I couldn't keep the apple cores from the apples so I settled on the seeds. This is Jason's necklace, I hope to meet him again so I can give it back. This is what I now know is a fork that I found near the Big Reef by my home." She saw Troy eyeing the locket and held it up for him to see, "I found this there too."

He held the heart charm in his hand with a smile, "Does it have anything in it?"

"No, we don't have anything to produce pictures here, the Above does, I've only been once though...on a dolphins back." she sighed happily.

"Would you like me to take you up there some time? We can get a picture taken just for your locket." he grinned.

"That would be lovely, Troy!" she said happily, "But you don't have to, I heard that you don't have to just put a picture in a locket, you can put something tiny but memorable in it."

"Like a piece of paper?" he said quizzically.

"Like a piece of paper." she said with a tilt of her head, examining the locket, "Or a promise."

"A promise is only a collection of words." he said unsure of what she meant.

"But if you say it with enough meaning and close the locket quickly it could be the most amazing covenant ever made." she said wonderously.

"Or completely childish and absurd." he said with a snort of laughter, "Not everything is as it seems, Gabriella, I recall you saying last week about cruel intentions of nice people."

"But a promise isn't a person, Troy, in it's own way it is magic. You know of magic." she said with a frown, "Do you believe in mysteries?"

"I do, but I believe they are best if explained. But that takes the mystery out of mysteries, doesn't it?" he concluded smartly.

"There wouldn't be adventures without mysteries, Troy." she said pointedly, "And that's when miracles happen and the understanding of many things become known. Suddenly we're not so ignorant anymore and it's the best feeling in the world!" she stared at the locket dreamily, "When I found this locket I thought of who it may have belonged to, and how horrible it is to lose something dear to you. It made me wonder what they looked like and how they ate, with forks or their fingers, how they combed their hair and if they put it up with ribbons that had colors we have never even dreamed of."

She paused, looking at him as if willing him to understand, "Without mysteries there wouldn't be much left to the imagination. Our thoughts would be boring and irrelevant! Monotonous and reiterated to suit our moods! No daydreams or nightmares, no fear of the unknown! No monsters under our mattresses and angry sea monkey riots brewing in our cupboards."

Troy chuckled, "You have the mind and wit of a child, Gabriella."

"But do we ever truly grow up Troy?" she said her eyes widening in disbelief, "What is the difference of adulthood and childhood? The awe of new things or our age and height?"

"Wisdom is the difference, Gabriella." Troy said his face growing solemn.

"But haven't you heard a child explain things? They understand much more than we can ever imagine! And it's all because they leave everything to their imagination! Their explanations are much more simple than they intend them to be but they make sense none the less don't they?"

Gabriella began to gather her things in her pouch but Troy stopped her and picked up a seashell, "Tell me the wonder of this common object? Did you battle a dragon for it? A seahorse had it stuck to the bottom of his tail?" he smirked.

She smiled and took it from him slowly, "I was two years old and it hit me in the face when a sting ray swam away from my touch."

Troy laughed heartily, "And you remember that?"

"No, but it is believable isn't it?" She said knowingly.

"Indeed, it was." he leaned forward and placed a kiss on her lips.

"What is that called?" she asked when she finally opened her eyes from the pleasant onslaught of her lips.

"A kiss." Troy smiled, amazed at her lack of knowledge.

"Why did you give it to me? Is it special?" she asked with a blush creeping on her cheeks.

"For being you. For showing me your magic." he mumured. He ran a hand down her face before picking up a bone, "Did you gather this from the aftermath of a shark's meal, or did you venture out to the dangerous beyond and find it near a warning sign?" he said cheekily, a smile warming his handsome face.

"I found it near the palace of Poseidon, it was on Ceberus's plate awaiting my curiosity. It was such a feat to get it from him but after much petting and a kiss on his wounded paw, I swam away with it." Gabriella retorted with a grin.

"How did he receive said wound?" Troy played along.

"I stabbed him with this fork when he stepped on my tail."

* * *

><p>"Where were you all morning?" Sharpay asked as she ran the sponge down Gabriella's back. Gabriella turned to her with a smile, "You were looking for me?"<p>

"Yes, I was going to go wake you up for breakfast." she smiled softly and ran a hand full of water over the soap gathering on her new friend's shoulder.

"I was with Troy, we were up all night telling fables and making up creative tales about origins of everything in his room, we fell asleep very late." she said nonchalantly.

Sharpay stopped washing Gabriella's hair and sat on the floor to see her face, "Troy? King Troy?"

"Yes, I do believe that's the one." Gabriella took it upon herself to bathe her legs.

"Fables? Why were you doing that?" Sharpay looked at her bewildered, not sure if what Gabriella was saying was a fable in itself.

"We couldn't sleep." she said simply. Sharpay picked up the sponge obviously seeing that Gabriella was not going to talk about it and instead picked up her hand and began to wash between her fingers, "You are to tell me all about it later."

"I will. I'm hungry though, when will lunch be served?" Gabriella said pushing her self from Sharpay and dunking herself in the water.

"Soon, very soon."

* * *

><p>If there had ever been a moment Chad believed he'd have been engaging in a conversation with Troy about one girl alone -<em>all day<em>- he would have also told himself that it'd on his dying day.

So while Troy spoke and boasted of Gabriella and their late night escapades, he constantly kept looking up for a crack in the dome or a herd of rabid horses coming to put him in an early grave. He even believed that the world was coming to an end and said his prayers and apologies to the gods for not visiting the altars.

"Troy, I'm sorry to interrupt, but am I missing something?" he finally asked.

"What do you mean?" the happy-go-lucky smile hadn't fell off of Troy's face since Chad saw him that afternoon.

"You've been talking about Gabriella this whole time. Is there something wrong?" he said looking around sheepishly again for the oncoming heard of ravenous horses.

Troy chuckled, "No! Nothing's wrong! Everything is right." Troy touched the pots of dying plants in the courtyard, they all miraculously sprung to life. Troy sighed happily and turned to his friend.

"Alright then, continue with your story." Chad contemplated once again apologizing to Poseidon, God of the Sea, for not leaving a dead fish over the season.

"Well, we talked about pirates and magic. Even joked about the most ridiculous things like her meeting Zeus and stabbing Ceberus with a fork. It was the most fun I've ever had. We pretended to hear noises and ventured about the castle pretending that we were trying to defeat intruders and slay dragons. She has quite the imagination! She even awoke mine in the midst of her tales." he chuckled, "She made me believe in the magic of mystery again, reminding me that there is so much more to learn, why not have fun doing it."

Chad nodded absentmindedly looking around the courtyard once more and keeping a strong grip on his sword, if he was to die he would throw Troy to that herd and run for his life, maybe slaying a horse or two. Forget loyalty to his king, he'd be damned if he let some sissy stallions disown his status and life.

"Chad, am I boring you or are you just not in the mood to talk?" Troy said amused.

"Huh, oh no,_ just waiting for the world to end_..." he spoke sounding preocupied while looking in the trees and finally drawing his sword at the sound of the wind rustling the leaves.

"What?" Troy laughed. "I'm afraid our world may still have a few thousand years on it, Chad. Are you feeling alright?" he stopped walking and placed a hand on his friend's shoulder.

Chad gave him a once over before his eyes widened incredulously, "I'm quite well, it's you I'm worried about. Are _you_ feeling alright?"

"I'm great." Troy chuckled again.

"So you really like her?" Chad sat on the log bench.

Troy looked down on him before nodding contritely, "I think so."

"Then you better hope she loses this bet so you can show her what she's missing." Chad said with a knowing smirk. Troy threw his head back with a loud happy laugh, this was the most easy-going Chad had ever seen him. It caused Chad to laugh too and soon they were both engaged in back breaking laughter.

It was the most ridiculous thing that had ever occurred in their friendship and Chad couldn't help but notice it. Once again, if Chad thought he'd ever see the day Troy settled on one female, he'd have sworn it'd be at the same time a pair of hooves dented his skull and slobbering teeth gobbled him up as the dome split in two.

* * *

><p><strong>Review :) <strong>

**You know what happens when you do! **

**Also I'm registering for a FictionPress account with the same pen name so if you want to read something that's not solely Troyella, stop by. Then you'll have more than one way of keeping track of my stories. **

**I'll keep you posted. **

**Rachelle. x**


	4. Chapter 4

**Here is a chapter especially for the perverts :) lml Ummmmmmmmmmmm let's begin with: I'm sorry! **

**IMPORTANT**

**I know I owe you guys 3 important updates, a new story, and a profile update, but Junior Year is driving me crazy! I'm visiting colleges (early I know) and I'm looking at new places to apply to, my mom is driving me nuts with her little speech about getting somewhere in life, and teachers certainly don't believe that us students have a life with all these damn papers **

**(-_-). **

**I promise to try and get everything to you guys over the next two weeks so keep your eyes open. Thanks for being patient.**

**Enjoy. **

* * *

><p>Gabriella had never felt homesick before. Until now.<p>

She watched Troy sit at the table and smile at her then everyone else as they gathered around the table. It was like a big family. A family Gabriella wasn't sure she wanted to be apart of when she had a family of her own. She wanted to talk to Troy about her father having a place here in the kingdom, so that he wouldn't be so far away. Her father would love feet wouldn't he?

Or should she leave?

She had successfully been eating without breaking a plate in two and she had stopped breaking teacups or putting them on her head. Now she had moved onto something better: hanging spoons on her nose and ears. She sighed and picked up her spoon then began to partake in her favorite part of breakfast.

Troy chuckled as he watched her move her eyes inward trying to see the teaspoon on her button nose. When it fell he began to clap, "Bravo. Well done!"

She smiled bashfully and put the spoon back on her face, "Would you like me to teach you?"

"I'd like that very much." he said holding up his own spoon. Gabriella giggled taking hers down and holding it up also as if it was a weapon.

"Slowly put it on your nose, Troy. No, not so fast it's going to fall!" she reprimanded with a grin.

Chad watched this, leaning on his elbow, ignoring the table manners his mother had taught him. He chuckled and picked up his own spoon following Gabriella's instruction.

"Troy, this is how it's done!" he mumbled trying to keep still.

"Very good!" Gabriella said with a pleased smile. "You try Troy." she encouraged. He tried but the spoon only fell to the table. Chad and Gabriella laughed at his frown of defeat.

"I think my nose is too big for teaspoons." he concluded.

Chad patted his shoulder, "It's okay man, maybe only Gabriella and I have the talent."

Gabriella nodded with a giggle of her own, "I'm sorry, Troy. There is already something we have in common." she said knowingly.

Troy grinned, "True, very true. You can have the dangerous spoon hanging Chad."

Sharpay sat at the table and watched them curiously, "Spoon hanging?"

"You had to be there, Shar." Chad chuckled.

"Hmm, I'm sure Gabriella will tell me later. She tells me everything you know." Sharpay narrowed her eyes. "Must I not know?"

"Shar, chill it's a joke!" Troy laughed.

Gabriella picked up Sharpay's hand and examined it closely, "What is on your nails?"

"Nail polish. Do you want me to do yours?"

"That'd be magnificent! But do you have another color? I'd like orange." she smiled.

"Of course." she looked at Troy. "You have a message from your uncle Troy."

"My uncle's dead." Troy said confused.

"Your father's brother." Sharpay began to put breakfast in her plate.

"I never knew him…" Troy shrugged and drank from his cup, "What'd he need?"

"I didn't open the letter." she said and then reached into her messenger bag, "Here."

He looked at the folded envelope, everyone wondering what Troy's only family could even want from him. He could hardly call the King his father, the man despised his guts, he always thought Troy was after his throne so he never partook in Troy's raising.

"Well, aren't you going to open it?" Gabriella asked lowly.

"I don't know." he said and shoved in a pocket. "Let's eat first, shall we?"

* * *

><p>"What was the letter about?" Sharpay came and rubbed her soft hand on the back of his neck. He didn't stop his gaze out the window, it was as if he was searching for the man that sent him a letter.<p>

"I don't know, it's still on the bureau. I don't want to deal with that right now." he said turning to her and placing his hands on her hips.

"I haven't had a female's touch in days, I'm not about to waste any energy on getting upset over something he probably said." He rubbed her sides and licked his lips. "It's been so long even you're looking appetizing."

Sharpay giggled and pushed herself against him in a hug, "Is there anything I can do to help?"

He shook his head and pulled away, walked to the bureau to pick up the letter. "I'm not sure."

"Can I ask you something?" Sharpay said softly, following him and wrapping an arm around his waist. His arm automatically came up and around her shoulders and they looked at each other in the mirror.

"Yeah?"

"Why are you refusing to have women, it's just one girl, Troy. I doubt it'll happen again if you stop letting them suck you off." she leaned her head against him.

"Chad told you?" he said with a sigh.

She nodded, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because it's not just that, it's complicated. I'm waiting for her." Troy said averting his gaze and settling on behind them. He slowly moved away from her and sat on his bed.

"She's dead, Troy."

"Not her. Gabriella and I have this bet and I'm waiting for her to cave." Troy said with a soft smile. "I don't know why and I know it's foolish but I'm saving myself for her."

Sharpay's eyebrows scrunched in confusion. "That is utter foolishness."

"Don't you think I know that?" Troy snickered lowly, "But I want her, I want her bad." Troy looked up at her seriously and a haunted look came over his face, "I want to teach her about her body and show the amazing things she can do with herself, what I can do to her. And I want that every night until she knows everything and afterwards it'd just be practice for the rest of her life." He looked away and ran a hand down his face, "Forget I said that."

Sharpay smiled and watched him with her own inner shock at his sincerity, "I will."

"Thank you. Stay the night with me?" Troy said weakly. "I don't want to be alone right now."

"Why not?"

"The nightmares are back, his face is there." Troy scratched the back of his neck and took off his shirt, "I'm going to go shower, see you tonight."

Sharpay nodded and watched him walk into his bathroom and close his door, her heart yearning for him and legs wobbly. She knew to send Gabriella in her place instead.

* * *

><p>Gabriella folded her letter to her father in three and put it in a neat plastic envelope Before walking to Chad's room. She wasn't sure that Chad would even deliver the letter, he was a strange man of many emotions, and was too nice to her this morning. And unfortunately she believed his actions for friendship were futile.<p>

She knocked on the door and stood as business like as she could and waited.

Chad poked his head out first then opened it slowly with a confused look settling on his handsome features. "Gabriella."

"I have a letter I want delivered to my father personally. Could you do it please?" she said stiffly.

"Sure." Chad said with a smirk and took it from her, "Are you okay?"

"Yes, I am great." she turned her nose up, trying to look snobbish but instead looked very childish. With her chest puffed out and head back she looked like a popped open PEZ stick.

Chad began to laugh and pulled her into a warm hug, one she uncannily settled into, "Let's be friends, Gabriella. You look ridiculous, without a mean bone in your body you make yourself a joke." he squeezed her. Gabriella's face pink and a smile on her face, she giggled, "I did look pretty silly didn't I?"

"You did, very much."

She pulled away and walked over to Troy's bedroom door, "Have a good day, Chad!"

She pushed the door open and looked around the room. "Troy?" Walking deeper in the room, she saw him lying in bed, half-naked, and asleep. She jumped when the door closed shut and suddenly thought of being trapped…with Troy.

Gabriella searched for any other females and then finally walked slowly to him admiring the contours of his torso. His nipples were deliciously taut and brown, evident goose bumps peppered his skin from the breeze coming through the open window. His pink lips were slightly parted and a steady breath made his chest rise and fall. She sighed in delight at the boner tenting his underwear.

She suddenly had the urge to drop her sundress as if she owed it to him, so she did. She crawled into his bed, licking her lips, and tracing her eyes over his face.

"Troy…" Tracing his features with a soft finger, she whispered to him, "Wake up."

"Mmm." his nose wiggled in annoyance.

"Troyyy…"

"Mhmm." his eyes fluttered open and he looked over at her, confused and trying to find his bearings. His eyes went up and down her tan skin and over her underwear clad body.

"Gabriella?" his eyebrows scrunched, he closed his eyes in despair and licked his lips.

"Hi." she giggled. She kissed his scratchy jaw and propped her head up with her arm.

"Where are your clothes?" he opened one eye to look her over again.

"I took them off." she said simply, unaware of how inappropriate that was. Troy chuckled hoarsely and brushed his hair out of his face. "Why'd you do that?"

She giggled, "Just because…" she rested her cheek on his cool chest before using her finger to circle a pattern around his nipple.

Troy brought a hand to the soft skin of her back, running his thumb along her bra straps and down to the elastic of her underwear. He bent his head at an angle to smell her hair and then began to pull the pins out letting her tresses loose to fall and curve around her body.

"What are you going to do about that?" She said running her hand down his stomach to the waistline of his boxers.

He looked down and smiled, "I'm not sure, I was hoping you'd help me."

"I'll think about it." she said thoughtfully.

Troy sighed heavily and inhaled her scent once again, a mix of herbal and other rich but beautiful scents. He pushed her slightly and climbed on top of her, burying his face in her throat.

"What are you doing?" She watched him as he traveled down her body with pleasurable kisses, dragging his face nonsensically down her skin.

"You feel so good." he mumbled. He hooked his thumbs on the band of her underwear and she bit her lip softly with questioning eyes.

"Troy, don't take those off. Sharpay said down there is _private_." she weakly protested.

He wiggled the pink piece of lingerie off of her legs and stared longingly at her center before placing kisses in her tuft of hair.

"It'll be our little secret okay? You don't have to share with anybody else but me, understood?"

She nodded and hooked her hand in his hair trying to pull him up but instead he widened her legs and used a finger to spread her lips and juices. She closed her eyes in pleasure, she was unsure of the way he was making her feel.

He placed a kiss on the bud of her clitoris before licking softly and sucking her solely into his mouth. He looked up at her and held her hips in place monitoring her facial expressions.

She thrashed violently as he feasted on her yoni, treasuring each wave he racked through her. She'd never felt so good in her life. He bit softly and began to nibble around her thighs before going back to his new favorite flavor and then plunged a finger into her. That seemed to be all that could fit.

Gabriella's moans soon turned to cries of mercy as she felt a tight knot develop in her stomach. She tried to push Troy's face deeper between her legs contradicting her pleas and protests, making Troy only want to ravish her more.

Pulling his face away he began to finger her furiously, leaving her reeling for his tongue to sweep her folds but still feeling the pleasure regardless.

Suddenly a gush of liquid burst from her center, paralyzing her in place; back arched, breasts perked, and mouth in a silent "o". She locked her fingers in Troy's hair as he covered her yoni with his mouth taking in more of the sweet liquid erupting from her center.

"Mmm." she whimpered, the pleasure and pain from her experience left her both relaxed and slightly stiff. Her sensitive clitoris made her push his head away, forcing his tongue from her center, then locking her legs forcefully, and still unable to speak.

Troy's kissed traveled back up her body and the side of her face, his hair partly matted to his face from her love nectar and sweat. "You okay?"

She remained still and Troy wrapped his arms around her protectively with an amused grin on his features. She finally relaxed and let out a heavy breath.

"Did I lose?"

_"Not yet."_

* * *

><p>"Was it amazing?"<p>

"I don't want to talk about it anymore."

Sharpay giggled at the blush creeping it's way up her friend's cheeks.

"How come? You've been talking about it all morning and now you don't want to talk about it?"

"Yes." Gabriella tried to reel in her glorious smile but didn't succeed. "The night was just too pleasurable for words. For the both of us, I hope."

"I thought you didn't want to talk about it?"

"Oh hush, you." Gabriella giggled.

"Here he comes." Sharpay said with a giggle of her own and sat at the lunch table with a horribly hidden grin on her features. "Troy." she greeted.

"Sharpay." he said with a soft smile. Color in his cheeks and a rosy gloss to his skin, Troy looked better than he had before in the past week.

"Hey, El." he turned to the blushing brunette.

"Hi, Troy." Gabriella said dreamily. She turned away bashfully and turned to Sharpay who was trying to hold in her laughter.

"Shutup." Gabriella whispered, laughter of her own getting ready to bubble up at any minute.

"You guys are so cute." Sharpay put on a manly voice, "Hey El." she bent over the table laughing loudly, "Hi Troy." she batted her lashes and rubbed at her tearing eyes. "I'm going to go check on Chad, he's later than usual." she said recovering from her fit.

Gabriella covered her face with her hands in embarrassment and Troy watched her with a bemused smile of his own. "When did you leave? When I woke up you weren't there." he said leaning forward on his elbows.

"This morning, I woke up before the sun." she smiled.

"Hmm." he nodded and rubbed at his sleep-ridden eyes. "How was your night?"

"You know how it was…" she said with a red face.

Troy chuckled. "Really? I seemed to have lost my mind this morning, may I search for it between your legs?"

Gabriella gasped and swatted at him with her napkin, "Not only was that corny but that is inappropriate Troy, people shouldn't know our escapades."

Troy's laughter boomed throughout the kingdom, "What's inappropriate is you showing up in my room at night without any clothes." he said pointedly.

"Is it your mission to let people know our business?" she looked around the table, eyes wide and concerned for her privacy.

"I'm sorry. How rude of me. May I please get a search warrant? I still haven't found my mind yet." he chuckled.

Gabriella groaned and piled food on her plate, "You are a horrible nymph, Troy."

"When you lose the bet, I won't so horrible, believe me." he said knowingly.

"Now that's something I wouldn't bet on King Troy."

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><p><strong>I know it's shorter than my usual chapters, writer's block is a -itch.<strong>

**Rachelle :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey guys!**

**I said I'd get everything to you over these two weeks but it turns out I'm going to have to do over this week because last week was MY BIRTHDAY WEEK. :D So say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to me in your reviews! **

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><p>She watched her reflection wavering in the water of the river and then hesitantly dipped her graceful fingers in the glassy pool. She watched the rings of the disturbed water band across the pool to the other side of the bank and subside softly. She hadn't heard back from her father and it was driving her nuts.<p>

"El, where have you been?"

She turned quickly, much like a naughty child, expecting to be scolded. "Here, Troy. I swear I hadn't gone anywhere else."

He nodded and looked away, "I just hadn't seen you, I'd thought you ran off somewhere. It's fine if you want to, you know the place well enough."

She nodded also, she wasn't sure when things had gotten awkward between them. Troy sat next to her on the bank of the river and shrugged off his coat, and pulled off his moccasins. "I was missing your company." he said softly.

"Have things been hectic?" she asked and pulled her knees to her chest.

"Not really, everyone wants me to read my uncle's letter. I'm not really in the mood to deal with all that kingly stuff. Lately, I haven't really wanted to do anything." he sighed and lied on his back, watching the water above the dome form pictures in his mind.

Gabriella nodded once again and watched him, his eyes concentrating and his body stiff, the hands behind head tightened and his arms flexed as if he wished to rip his hair out. She finally fell next to him and rolled onto her side before laying a hand on his stomach. "What has been bothering you, Troy?"

"Nothing important, the stupid stuff." he shrugged the question off, undoubtedly leaving the finality in his statement hanging in the air around them.

"If you want, you can read the letter with me. Is that what's bothering you? Do you want to know what is in it?" she laid her face on his shoulder blade her nose and lips brushing the skin on his neck as she spoke.

"I don't know…I came out here to avoid talking about it, you know." he said stiffly.

"I understand." she pressed a hot kiss to his chin and nuzzled there for a minute. "Troy?"

"Yeah, El?" he moved a little to see her face.

Her eyes searched his and she pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth, "I like you."

Troy chuckled. "That's the best thing I've heard all day."

* * *

><p>"So I saw you and Gabriella getting cozy in the courtyard." Sharpay came up behind him and wrapped her arms around Troy's neck. He smiled and continued to look out the window before answering her.<p>

"Yeah? Where have you been anyway?" Troy pulled one of her arms and brought her around to face him.

"Around, a lot more than you have been lately." she watched Troy stiffen a bit from the mention of his lack of activity with women in the past week, "Troy, maybe she just isn't going to come around." Sharpay said with a shrug, "I personally think you're trying too hard."

Troy let go of her hand and turned again to the glassless window and sat on the sill.

"Okay." the smile never fell from his face though and Sharpay frowned, "Why are you trying so hard, she's just another one."

Troy watched a sparrow rest on the edge of his robe and smiled, "Okay."

Sharpay raised her eyebrows then giggled, "Does Troy have a crush?" The word _crush_ had caught Troy's attention and he turned sharply, his eyes hardening and a glum look settling on his face, "What? No!"

Sharpay gave him a skeptical look and pressed her body to his in a hug, one she couldn't resist giving him. "Oh gods, you are adorable."

"I don't Sharpay, really. I just like her a lot, she's fun and different and I want her. I don't you know… like her, like her." he babbled, "I can't like her like that." he shook his head as if the thought of being with Gabriella any other way than sexually was a horrible idea.

"Then why is she telling me that you were going to her room soon?" Sharpay wiggled her eyebrows, "You were going to tuck her into bed, as she put it." she drew quotation marks in the air around her phrase and giggled.

"As a friend!" Troy sighed then murmured again, "As a really close…good friend." he sighed once more.

"Yeah, right." she laughed loudly, "I'm going to go now and leave you to get ready for her, your Highness."

Troy smirked and shook his head as she walked out, swaying her hips deliberately. He wondered if she ever thought that he didn't notice her attempts to sway him into singing her to his bed. Sometimes it was tempting other times he found it annoying, but he loved her attention all the same.

Though something was different about the way the full of her hips moved, as if she wasn't just talking him into a love song between sheets but a life song. He was confused about what had changed about their relationship but he refused to question it, not wanting to create a big deal out of nothing, but he couldn't help but notice that since Gabriella came into the kingdom, Sharpay's whole demeanor had changed. Her flirtatious ways went on full effect, especially with him.

When he finally heard the door shut he sighed and stood then untied his robe, folding it over his arm, and throwing it onto his bed. With a yawn and stretch, he stared defiantly at the little folded envelope on his desk and finally picked it up and left his room. He walked into the hallway and turning slowly, he raised a hand to the door in front of him and opened it.

"Gabriella?"

Gabriella, the petite brunette, rolled over in her sheets and thousands of fluffy pillows and smiled, "Hey."

Troy returned the smile and closed the door behind him then walked towards her in a hesitant manner. Noticing this, Gabriella's smile fell from her face and she scooted over in her round bed.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Something isn't sitting right with me right now, that's all." he sat in her bed and leaned back in her pillows, "Have you ever had the feeling that something is going to happen and there is no way for you to stop it?"

"I think everyone has those kind of moments, Troy." Gabriella faced him, "Most of the time we're just being paranoid."

"Paranoid." Troy nodded and sighed. He handed her the envelope in his hand and smiled, "Read it to me."

Gabriella examined the envelope before taking it and opening the flap. She unfolded the paper inside and began to read.

Dear King Troy,

I'd hope you knew by now that I was elected king of the Siren Kingdom not too long ago. Yes, I, as in your Uncle Miles. And you are probably wondering how I breathe underwater as a nymph, why do I choose to contact you now, and more importantly what do I want.

Well, nephew, life has been great here in the kingdom but I would like to be able to say the same for my citizens. My dilemma is that in the records that I have went through, your kingdom owes my people over 50,000,000 in money, young one.

Your dead line is two weeks from the date I written at the top of my page. If this money is not paid to us in person at dawn of that day, my guards and myself will come to your kingdom to take it forcefully.

Another thing is that I have something of your father's, not the old king but your birth father. If you would like to retrieve that also it'd be nice to have a chat about I acquired it, it was quite the feat. Make sure you do repay what you owe us at the Siren Kingdom, I would never enjoy being at war with my own adopted blood.

Your Uncle,

King Miles, Sr.

Gabriella looked at the top of the page and her eyes widened in shock, "Troy, the deadline is tomorrow!"

Troy's eyes were closed with a tight line where his joking grin once was, he did not reference to hearing her.

"Troy, what money is he talking about?" Gabriella folded the envelope with a frown.

"The money that was used for his own sister's burial and memorial." Troy sighed, "The king, my adopted father, had him pay for the memorial and the mortuary flowers. This isn't his people's money, it's money that belongs to the family. A family that everyone pretends I'm not apart of." Troy groaned with frustration, "Sometimes I wish they just left me on that fucking doorstep and let me stare to death. The only person that ever truly believed I was apart of the family was my mother, the rest of them went to their graves trying to keep me from coming anywhere near the throne."

"Troy, maybe you should go talk to him." Gabriella said, "I don't want you going to war."

Troy rolled his eyes and sat up, "This isn't about what you want, Gabriella."

"It should be, because I'm probably not the only one." Gabriella sighed, "Just give him the money, Troy. It's not a big deal what he thinks."

"There is going to be a war! It'll be a major set back in our economy, 50 fucking million? You've got to be kidding me! It'd take years to get all that money back to my kingdom! Secondly, I don't want to just give him what he wants, I want to fight for it because he is wrong. My people don't owe him anything, the family doesn't owe anything because it's family." Troy stood and snatched the envelope from her hands. "I got to get my men together."

"Troy, it isn't that serious!"

"It is! Because then they are all right, Gabriella! Don't you see? He's turning family matters into a business between governments. This could put me in bad positions with allies. Having a financial setback while the rest of the Sea World already sees me as incompetent to be king will only make the rest of them want to pick fights. I have to show them all early that I am a military force to be reckoned with." Troy argued.

"Not everybody thinks that Troy, why must everything be fighting!"

"Because that's how you survive, not everyone floats by in life with dreams of going to the Above or a dream of just having the little things like feet, Gabriella! People have to live to have dreams!" Troy frowned and walked to the door, "Good night, Gabriella."

Troy shut the door and came face to face with Chad, "Good, just who I was looking for, get the men together."

"You shouldn't yell at her, Troy. She doesn't know any better." Chad said sourly.

"Stay the hell out of my business, I do whatever I want got it?" Troy's anger started to boil the room, the pots of flowers began to die slowly.

"I think you forgot you are talking to your best friend, Troy. I heard everything, the whole kingdom should know now."

"I think you forgot who is in charge here, Chad. I'll take care of whatever problems I have with her later, right now I have to keep my kingdom safe. So fuck whatever you heard and go wake up my men." Troy turned sharply, "I'll be in the courtyard."

* * *

><p>Gabriella could not help but peer out her window into the courtyard to watch the Nymph Kingdom military practice. She'd been up listening to Troy bark orders and the clang of metal and harsh armor bumping together as they prepared for the battle with King Miles, who was coming soon. The women were now all lined up and being chosen for the night so that themen will be properly energized and strong for the fight against the Siren Kingdom.<p>

She felt her heart drop as she realized that Troy may be choosing a woman also or may have already chosen. She knew that she didn't want to lose the bet but then she also knew she don't want to him to bed any other woman but her. She was stuck between what she wanted for her life and what she desired for her pleasure.

Making sure she stayed unseen she drew her drape a bit closer to her and continued to watch, waiting for Troy to hook one of the women on his arm and whisper the delightful things she'd probably heard herself.

She wasn't sure she understood the feeling in her gut when she touched him and the airy feeling she felt when he breathed against her skin. She wanted him not physically but mentally, wanted to feel the hands of his mind carress hers and give her knowledge she never knew she could acquire.

Maybe not make her the most intelligent being but make her know enough to understand his feelings. She watched as Chad chose his own woman and then Troy was the only one left in the courtyard. She watched him pace around for a while before he turned and looked up, feeling watched, and meeting her gaze.

"But, soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun. Arise, fair sun and kill the envious moon who is already sick and pale with grief that thou her maid art far more fair than she." Troy began at the top of his lungs.

Gabriella, confused, began to look around below her for whoever he may be talking to. She couldn't understand what he was saying but she humored him and let him continue on.

Troy raised his hands with a joyous smile, "Be not her maid, since she is envious, her vestal livery is but sick and green and none but fools do wear it; cast it off. It is my lady, oh, it is my love! Oh, that she knew she were! She speaks yet she says nothing, what of that? Her eye discourses; I will answer it." he came closer to the window and looked all the way up to the top of the castle again, his neck tiring of looking up at her. "I am too bold, 'tis not to me she speaks! Two of the fairest stars in all the heaven having some business, do entreat her eyes to twinkle in their spheres till they return. What if her eyes were there, they in her head? The brightness of her cheek would shame those stars as daylight doth a lamp, her eyes in heaven would through the airy region stream so bright that birds would sing and think it were not night. See, how she leans her cheek upon her hand! Oh, that I were a glove upon that hand, that I might touch that cheek!"

Troy grinned, proud of himself for remembering the passage from his childhood.

"That was beautiful, Troy. Though I'm not quite sure what you were saying..." she trailed off, "It was really nice."

Troy chuckled. "Jump from your window, Juliet!"

"You are confused, I'm Gabriella!" she frowned and crossed her arms.

"Just jump, you silly goose!" he laughed.

"Fine!" she swung her feet over her window sill and pushed her self off the edge and closed her eyes as she felt the wind spiral through her hair. She fell gracefully into his arms and he smiled down at her before placing a soft kiss onto her lips.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't worry, you were forgiven the moment you looked at me."

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><p><strong>READ AND REVIEW,<strong>

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**Rachelle :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey guys :D **

**I know I've been M.I.A , I'm trying I really am! This chapter is kind of slow but their is where the story begins to pick up and there is one Troyella fluff I know you guys like :X**

**Enjoy.**

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><p>"Has anyone seen Gabriella?"<p>

Troy walked around the mansion searching for the young brunette that had been on his mind. He wanted to see her before they went to war with the Siren Kingdom.

"Nope." a soldier answered, but he wasn't looking away from the female he had bedded last night.

Troy rose his eyebrows but kept walking, "Gabriella?" He turned the last corridor, hearing giggling and soft murmurs, but when he got there he stopped and frowned. "What are you two doing?"

Chad looked up and pulled Sharpay up with him but she was the first to speak up, "Moving the valuables, some preparation for invasion." she said quickly.

"Yeah, whatever. Have you seen Gabriella?" He shook off the awkwardness of the moment.

"She is probably in the courtyard, have you checked her room?" Sharpay said.

Troy's eyes narrowed, "I have officially checked everywhere, I don't have time to go around searching the whole dome. So stop playing around and help me find her."

Chad cocked his head and sent a horribly hidden smile to Sharpay. She smiled and elbowed him, "She went to the market to go see her friend Jason."

"Oh gosh." Troy turned around and walked through the 12 corridors he had passed so he could find the petite mermaid that always seemed to escape him. On his way jogging out of the castle, he spotted her with two grocery bags in one of her arms and smelling a bouquet in her hands. She was taking too slow for his satisfaction, so he met her halfway on the path and took the bags out her of her hands, "What did you buy?"

"Troy!" she looked up and delight lightened her face, "Oh, just some things to decorate my room. I'm sorry I went by myself but I wanted to see how Jason was doing with his house situation."

He looked down at her pouch strapped around her torso, it was looking much fuller than the last time he had seen it.

"I see you also found things to add to your collection, Gabriella." he chuckled.

"Yes, just few things. Do you like my flowers?" She batted her eyelashes.

"Very much." he buried his nose in them and scrunched up his face pleasantly and made a humming noise with the back of his throat. "Where did you acquire such beautiful violets?"

"Well…" she began and spun ahead of him, inhaling again and then stopping, trying to catch her balance, she turned to him with a cheesy smile. "Jason closed his shop for a lunch break and we walked through the back garden of the Central Gate and we had a picnic. I learned great things about him such as he's taking care of his sister's children, and while he shared his stories, he picked me some violets because I fancied them."

Troy's wide grin suddenly dissipated, "So this Jason, you guys are great friends now, huh?"

"Oh, Troy, he's wonderful! He invited me to his home until you get back from the war! So I'd have company!" she sighed, "I really wish Sharpay wasn't a nurse… I'd have loved to hang out while you were gone."

"You declined his offer right?" Troy said in a strained voice as she approached the door she pushed it open with her hip and turned to him with a lopsided smile, "I told him maybe, because I wanted to see what you'd say."

"Well, I say no." Troy said walking into her room and setting the bags on the study. "There is no way in the name of the gods you are spending a possible weeks time with that man in his household."

Gabriella's smile fell quickly, with the peace in the room you could almost hear it clatter to the floor.

"Why not, I am old enough to make my own decisions. My answer isn't your answer, I wanted an opinion, not permission." Gabriella scowled and much to the irony of her statement, she appeared very childish.

Troy rubbed the bridge of his nose, "Don't make me take you with me to war. I'll strap you to my back, Gabriella."

"I am not a child, Troy! I'm tired of you talking down to me all the time."

"You are naïve, you're new to the palace and need protection! I'm surprised you didn't slap him across the face when he asked you to _sleep _over. The way the Nymph Kingdom works, Gabriella, is sex, sex, sex, and more sex, nobody in the kingdom _cannot_ be thinking about sex and when they'll get their next fix. You don't realize that you are the only virgin in the kingdom?" Troy was trying to make her understand that Jason was going to take advantage of her child like mind.

"More than likely, there are no children, Gabriella. _More than likely_ he probably said that because you are a nice girl and he wanted something to catch your attention."

"Not everybody has wicked intentions, Troy."

"Sex isn't wicked in the Nymph Kingdom." he sighed and took a softer tone with her, "Here, sex is life."

Gabriella rolled her eyes, "Why are you so mad anyway, so what if I was to have this _sex_ with Jason?

"Because you're going to get hurt, you are a sweet and kind being Gabriella, you don't understand what it means to be thrown away, left for nothing."

"Troy, you forget where I came from haven't you?"

Suddenly realizing his horrible choice of words, he groaned, "I didn't mean it like that."

"I don't care how you meant it, you are full of hypocrisy! Go to the Underworld!"

She crossed her arms and turned her back, silently telling him to leave her room. He threw his head back in despair. Troy rubbed the back of his neck, and then slowly approached her from behind.

"Look, I'm sorry. I just feel like I have to protect you, okay? I don't want anyone to harm you because I care about you. You are a phenomenal female, Gabriella. I don't want to argue with you, as my parting wish, please don't go to his home. Just take my advice. I may not see you for a while or never again and I don't want this to be our last memory."

She turned quickly, "What do you mean never again, Troy?" She stepped closer to him and he raised his arms to run his hands down her forearms to gather her hands.

"Today is when I go to war, Gabriella, remember?" He wrapped her arms around his neck and placed his hands about her waist, holding her there.

"You don't have to do this Troy, why would you leave me alone here?" she pleaded, finally realizing the seriousness of the situation.

"Gabriella, I have to. I can't leave my men to fight alone."

"Please, take me with you."

Troy bit his lip to keep a smile from her cuteness to himself, they were having a serious moment, "I wish I could, but there would be no where to put you, to keep you safe. We'll have camps and we won't stay in one place, I have the whole mission mapped out, having you there will only mess up the plans."

"Troy, please, I won't be any trouble." she shook her head avidly, "None at all."

He pulled her closer to him and kissed her jaw below her ear, "Oh, love, I'm going to miss you."

"Remember you can't leave your company, Troy." she begged. He grabbed her and placed kisses all over her face, holding her cheeks in his hands. He pushed his face into her hair, "I don't leave till midnight, Gabriella, we have so much time together, don't spoil it by crying."

"I refuse to cry, no tears at all, see." she pulled back so he could see her smile softly and shrugged her shoulders.

"Good." A moment of silence passed and they stared at each other questioningly, wondering if the other was feeling the same emptiness that was developing in the pits of each others stomachs. Gabriella turned her head, feeling a sudden selfishness that she had never known she had. "Why do you make me feel guilty for wanting you to stay longer?"

"If you are going to miss me this much maybe I should hide from my army and stay with you." he smiled as he tugged her dress and pulled her into a hug.

"I am going to miss you, Troy."

"I'll miss you more than you could ever imagine."

* * *

><p>"I've only known you for a few weeks, but I feel like you are my best friend." she said softly. They had spent the past hour laying on their backs staring at nothing and talking about what ever came to mind. Troy occasionally looked over at her and watched her as she spoke, but her eyes never left the ceiling.<p>

He looked over at her and smiled, he took her hand and brought it to his lips, "I'm glad we're friends, Gabriella." it felt weird for him to say it, he wondered if she heard the awkwardness in his voice.

"Hey, look at me."

She looked over, her face tinged pink and a small smile settled on her lips, "What?"

"I'm going to come back and we'll continue like nothing ever happened okay?"

"Promise?"

"I promise, cross my heart and hope to live."

"Troy, can I tell you something?"

"Of course. What?"

"You have to promise not to judge me or anything, okay?" she sighed.

Troy chuckled, "Why would I judge you, I'm sure you never judged me when I told you things. "

"Okay." Gabriella turned on her side so she could face him also. "I want you to be my first, when you come back from war… But I want you to call off the bet."

Troy's face darkened, "You don't want to be mine forever?"

"Troy you know I want to have children, and be with another of my kind someday." She suddenly felt embarrassed.

"Right, so you just want to have sex with me and then get on with life here in the Nymph Kingdom or are you going to leave?" Troy said worried.

"I want to stay here with you, Troy. Why would I leave?" she said, her eyebrows furrowing.

"I'm selfish as hell, Gabriella, you don't want to ruin our friendship do you?" he said cautiously, "I don't think this is a good idea."

"But I trust you, Troy, you'd never hurt me right?"

"Never on purpose, but I have a history of hurting people when I had good intentions."

"Our conversations always lead back to that stupid word, huh?"

"Intentions? I guess so." Troy shrugged and turned over on his back, "I don't think we should do that, if you don't plan on being mine, Gabriella. I don't say be mine as an option, once we seal the deal then you seriously can't leave the kingdom. Ever."

"Why is that?"

"When I make love, I imprint, you wont be able to marry or fall in love. You'll have to stay and be happy with me. Only me."

"Why didn't you tell me that before?" she said softly, "And what's making love got to do with anything? I said sex, I don't want to make anything."

Troy grinned, "Making love is just another romantic term for the word sex, Gabriella, when you really, really like someone the word sex seems almost harsh to describe the ritual of joining in the bed."

"It does sound romantic." she said after a moments thought.

They laid in silence, "Can you tell me why I want to be near you all the time, why when you come around I get some nervous feeling in my tummy, why I gasp for air when you say my name or if you touch me? You make me tingle all over and I want you to touch me in our secret place when we're alone. What are you doing to me?"

Troy laughed and Gabriella's face turned beet red with embarrassment."Thank you for answering my question." she turned on her back also.

He threaded his fingers with hers and laid their hands between them. "All male nymphs have that impact on females, it's nothing special."

"No, there is something else there, Troy, I feel like I have to make sure that you are okay all the time and I have to be close to you. What is that?"

"I'm not sure myself." Troy gave a half shrug, "Maybe it's because we're best friends." he smiled wholeheartedly.

"Maybe."

Staring at their hands between them, Gabriella stroked his pink flesh with the pad of her thumb and then suddenly turned on her side, wrapped her arm around his torso, then draped her leg dramatically of his hips, her sundress flowy and uninterrupted as it shifted to fit her new position. He placed a wet kiss on her forehead and wiggled his arm out from the sandwich she created and comfortably laid it behind her.

"Don't get hurt out there, okay?"

"Let's not talk about it."

She looked up and suddenly placed a kiss on his chin, he tilted his head so his bottom lip would get the gist of her kiss and grinned.

She blushed and laid her head back on his chest, "Maybe staying with you for eternity wouldn't be so bad. You'd make a great husband, Troy."

"I want you to be happy…"

"I want you to be happy too." she said lowly, "What makes you happy Troy?"

"A lot of things, I don't know."

"Do you like poems?"

"They're overrated."

Gabriella's eyes widened in disbelief, "How so?" She sat up and crossed her legs then leaned forward intently.

"Well, colorful words turn whatever the writer is seeing from unimportant into something magnificent to ignoramuses, deciphering it is annoying, and if we saw or heard or touched the writer's muse we would have to lower our expectations, because it isn't as great as we thought it was after we read the poem."

"Troy, do you believe that feelings could last forever?" she said softly.

"Yeah, I do."

"Whatever the writer felt can not be put into simple words, there are only but so many in the English language. Poems are reflections of the soul because in the spirit world there cannot possibly be mirrors, so poets write what the soul sees and feels when they touch, see, or hear something that inspires them. It's so in another lifetime when the soul becomes old and dull it'd remember something that happened forever ago."

"You make it sound much more than it is." he chuckled, "Poetry is just writing."

"I'm glad we met, it was kismet. The gods definitely brought me here to broaden your horizons." she giggled, "I may not be the brightest cookie, and I can't hold intellectual conversations too well because they're hard to follow half the time, but I can teach you a thing or too."

Troy nodded, "I can't disagree with you there, you teach me something new everyday."

"Glad to be at your service, King Bolton." she did a silly half bow and he chuckled.

"Tell me about love! Guru Gabriella, since you know so much, I'm curious to know if that is what I feel when I look at you." he sat up also.

"Unfortunately that's not my expertise, the only love I've experienced is that of the fatherly sort." she giggled.

They shared a smoldering gaze, she broke once again another stare for that day, smothering the fire that began in her throat.

"What if a poor ignorant king like me is in love, what d'you think I feel like?" he winked.

She blushed, "Well, maybe that person you are in love with is always on your mind, your heart speeds up every time she's near you, shaky hands, maybe a slight stutter, and you're not sure what to say or do because you're so nervous but comfortable with her you don't want to say the wrong thing."

Troy nodded as if taking mental notes, "What would I be doing?"

"A lot of touching, long stares, corny jokes, trying to catch her attention with little things."

"You seem to know a lot and you've never experienced love. What makes you happy, Gabriella?"

"A lot of things." she grinned.

He snorted and then tackled her to the mattress, "Do I make you happy?"

"No!" she laughed and he tickled her and laid on top of her, crushing her until her small snorts and giggles turned to loud laughter and joyous tears.

"You make me very happy, Troy." she said between breaths. They laughed a little more. Not much.

Suddenly the weight of the room tickled her mind and she closed her eyes and just listened.

"What are you doing?" he turned over and laid on his side next to her.

"Listening to music."

He cocked an eyebrow. "What music?"

"The music in my mind."

* * *

><p>Chad stepped into Gabriella's room and toothily smiled at the sight he witnessed. Troy lied wrapped around Gabriella protectively and his face was barely detectable in Gabriella's untamed mane.<p>

"Troy." he called and then circled the bed to shake him awake. Troy groaned and pushed himself further into Gabriella's back, trying to seek comfort from whatever was waking him.

Chad shook him again and Troy's face popped up and glared, "What?"

"We have an hour till midnight and we have to start setting up for the journey, you might want to start your goodbyes now."

Troy frowned and Chad turned to leave but stopped at the door way, "May I have your room when we come back, I'm sure she'd prefer you in her bed rather than in your own."

Troy chuckled lowly and waved him off before placing a kiss on Gabriella's cheek to wake her, his kiss slowly started traveling down and she let out a sleepy murmur, "What are you doing to me?"

He turned her over and raised her sundress kissing and sucking every piece of skin he laid eyes on. She let out a squeal but remained half asleep. Kissing around her panties, he pulled them down and began to orally pleasure her for a few minutes, suddenly she stopped him and pulled him up.

"I don't want us to say goodbye like this."

He licked his lips and raised a questioning brow.

"I wish you left me sleep sleeping." she said so soft that he had bearly heard her.

"I'll miss you."

"I already wish you were here." she turned over and let him show himself out.

* * *

><p>Sharpay packed the last first aid supply kit in her bag and wondered when Troy was to summon the sorcerer to give them the gills and back up plan so they may travel to the Siren Kingdom.<p>

She was told Gabriella was sleeping so she left a note on her door and a nail painting kit at her doorstep. She was going to miss talking to that silly mermaid, she already wished the war was over and done with. She saw Chad checking the armor on the men and making sure they were all suited up for battle and they were ready to go.

She examined Troy, as he watched everyone preparing to fight. She wondered if he was preparing himself mentally, he'd be leading the first war in the Nymph Kingdom, she figured she'd be scared out her wits also.

But as she watched the dome doors crash open behind him, she withdrew her own sword and realized the war had come to them.

Now she knew why her king hadn't been in a hurry, he must've heard them from miles away.

* * *

><p><strong>THE MORE REVIEWS THE FASTER THE UPDATE :D<strong>

**RACHELLE . **


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